A Lost Soul Never Rests
by faithonhold
Summary: Captain Swan. Set after 2x09- Emma's family is acting strange. She finds that a certain pirate may play a much bigger role in her life than she first expected. He saves her and Emma comes to realize that his feelings for her may not be so one-sided.


A/N: Ok, so this idea's been in my head for a while. Not entirely sure how well I executed it, but I had such a fun time writing it anyway. Hope you enjoy! :)

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**Part 1/2**

Emma looked around the station, seeing that everything was in its place and turned to leave. She had been here for God knew how long and she just wanted to go home.

She locked up the station and was heading to her car when her cell rang. She dug it out from her jacket and accepted the call without checking to see who was calling.

"Hey," she greeted. She had a fairly good idea of who it was. Only one person ever called her the moment she left the station.

"Emma, honey," Mary Margaret's worried voice greeted her. Emma had to refrain from rolling her eyes. Ever since the curse had broken and Mary Margaret had regained her memories, she was so protective of Emma, Emma thought it a godsend that she even let her out of her sight. It was only 10 pm, but that was still too late, according to her mother. Snow White tended to forget that her daughter was now 28 years old and had been living on her own for most of her life. But if she were completely honest with herself, Emma didn't mind the fussing all too much. All her life, she had wanted to know her parents and she wasn't about to feel ungrateful for the affection they showed.

"Can you hear me?"

Emma was jolted out of her reverie and she nodded before realizing Mary Margaret couldn't see it.

"Yea, sorry about that. What's up?" She tried to get the right key as best as she could with one hand and unlocked the car door.

"Are you done for the day?" Mary Margaret asked her, concern heavy in her voice.

"Yep," Emma replied. She sat in the driver's seat and closed the door. "Just finished locking up." She heard Mary Margaret sigh, and a flash of annoyance went through her when she heard the relief in it.

"Great! I was just wondering if it's not too much trouble…" Mary Margaret trailed off.

"Of course not!" Emma said, wondering what could possibly be up. "What do you need?"

"Well, nothing much, it's just that Henry said he wanted scrambled eggs in the morning and well…we're fresh out of eggs," Mary Margaret told her, sounding sheepish.

Emma let out a little laugh. So that's what this was about. In addition to being her parents, Snow White and Prince Charming also had a young grandson, who they were willing to go great lengths to please. If the boy wanted scrambled eggs in the morning, he would get them, come hell or high water.

"Of course. I'll get them on my way back," Emma said with a smile. She had wanted to go home but a little stop wouldn't hurt her.

"Alright, honey, just come back to us." Mary Margaret suddenly sounded as though she were far away.

"You know I will," Emma said, confused. What kind of thing was that to say? Was her mother planning on her to run away? Why in the world would she do that?

"Oh, just a second. David wants to talk to you," She suddenly said, voice sounding normal, and Emma heard the phone being passed around.

"Wait a sec. Why can't you just wait until I'm-"Emma started but was interrupted as her father's voice came through the speaker.

"Hey, Emma," David's voice said to her.

"David," she greeted. "Can't this all wait until I'm home?"

Either he didn't hear her or just ignored her because his response made no sense.

"Emma, we barely got to know each other," he began and Emma was seriously about to throw out the phone if they didn't tell her why they were acting all- clingy. Well, more so than usual and that was saying something."Honey, you just hurry back to us, ok? We're all waiting for you."

"Alright, I give in," Emma bit out. "Ha ha ha, very funny. Both of you are a pair of regular jokers, now aren't you?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm and even a bit of her annoyance seeped in. She really didn't care.

"This is all hilarious. Now, will you guys hang up or am I going to be stranded in front of the station the entire night listening to all of this?"

She heard Mary Margaret and David laugh softly and she relaxed, knowing now that they were, indeed, kidding.

"Oh, Emma, we were just toying with you," she heard her mother laugh. David had probably put her on loudspeaker. Jerk.

"Thanks, David, for letting me know the entire world could hear my ranting," she said, but with no real bite in her tone.

She heard David laugh in response and her own lips turned upwards at the sound of it.

"Ok, then, drive safely, Emma. We'll talk to you when you come home," her parents told her and she nodded at the phone before realizing, again, that they couldn't see.

Emma hung up and started the car. She had barely gone two blocks when a figure ran past her on the road, forcing her to slam the brakes as she jolted forward. It took a moment for her to get her bearings (her heart was suddenly hammering in her ribcage as though it wanted out) but when she did, her eyes immediately roamed the area in front of her for the figure. It was dark and she couldn't see much, but she was sure of one thing: the figure had been a child.

She unbuckled her seat belt and made to leave her car when she realized it was pretty dark and who knew what was out there. Without a second thought, she reached for her gun and slid it in the back of her jeans, her jacket concealing the weapon. She opened the door quietly and got out, moving to stand defensively in front of the Bug, her hand hovering above her belt line.

"Who's there?" she called out. She didn't really expect an answer and was pleasantly surprised when a young child came out slowly from behind some bushes. He walked over to her until he was directly under a streetlamp and she felt her hands drop and the fear leave her body. Not that she had been afraid, of course.

"Henry?!" she let out, flabbergasted. "What are you doing out here?"

The boy suddenly ran to her and hugged her tight around the middle. She didn't know what warranted such a display of affection but she hugged back just as tightly nonetheless.

"I miss you," Henry said, looking up at her. "When are you coming back?"

Emma ruffled his hair, smiling down upon him and shooting him a confused glance. "What are you talking about, kid? I'm right here."

Henry sighed and hugged her even tighter. "I know, it's just that it feels like you're so close, yet so far away," he said, his voice trembling a bit.

Emma's heart broke at the sound of it. She knew that lately she had been spending a lot of time at the station and not as much time as she would have liked with her family, but she had no idea how much it'd affect Henry. All of a sudden, she hated herself for making her only child feel that way.

"Henry, love, look at me," she said gently. His blue eyes looked up at her and she chided herself when she saw unshed tears pool in his eyes. "I'm sorry I haven't been around for a while, but I promise I will be from now on, ok?"

Henry shook his head. "But you were leaving just now!" he said adamantly. "Don't leave me, Emma," his eyes widened as he looked at her so desperately, she almost couldn't bear it.

Emma's heart broke and she hugged him, before gently pushing him away to lean down and speak to him at eye level. "I wasn't leaving," she said, her voice soft and pleading. "I was going home from work." She suddenly remembered and a grin broke out on her face. "And I was going to make a stop, to pick up those eggs that you want for breakfast tomorrow!"

Henry smiled then and Emma felt her heart lift. She would do anything for that smile.

He hugged her tightly.

"I love you, Emma," he said, his voice muffled by her shirt.

She laughed then and held him. "I love you, too, kid," she said as she leaned in to plant a kiss on his hair.

"Come on, let's get you those eggs and go home!"

She led Henry back to the Bug still standing in the middle of the road and suddenly Emma remembered that they were still outside and it was nearly midnight.

A thought abruptly crossed her mind, and she looked down, only to see Henry across the street and nowhere near the car.

"I'll see you when you get home!" Henry yelled at her before running away.

"Henry, come back! You shouldn't even be out this late!" She called after him, but he was already far gone.

_Must be home by now_, Emma thought and returned to her car.

She drove for what felt like five minutes when the car started spluttering.

_Oh, no. Oh, God, no. No. No. No. _

She wasn't panicking. Nope. She was calm and collected.

She slammed her hands on the steering, multiple times, as though that would make the car act normally.

The yellow Bug, which had apparently seen much better days, slowly drifted to a stop in the middle of the street, the engine giving one last attempt at life before dying out completely.

"Oh, no," Emma groaned, laying her forehead on the steering. "This cannot be happening to me. This _cannot _be happening to me," she complained, hitting the steering again once more, as though it deserved her anger. She turned the key in the ignition. Nothing.

Emma let out a frustrated growl.

"Godammit!" she yelled. She hit the steering one more time (hitting anything else would hurt a lot more, she reasoned) before opening the door forcefully.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

She slammed the door and hit the tire with her foot.

Her foot throbbed and it didn't make the car any less stationary than before. Fantastic.

It was almost 11 p.m. and her wonderful car had decided to die on her, in the middle of the road no less, leaving her no choice but to walk home.

The world was against her today. She knew it. She checked to see that her belongings were with her, before locking the car and walking away from it.

"Fucking useless car," she muttered as she continued down the road. _Useless, just like the guy who I stole it from_, her traitor thoughts told her.

_Oh, shut up_, she lashed out.

Great, now she was talking to herself.

She had just crossed in front of the laundromat when she heard some shuffling behind her. Her hand immediately went for her gun as she turned around.

"Who's there?" she demanded, her gun pointing to nothing in the darkness. She heard footsteps again and she stiffened, her gun moving along her vision as she pointed it every which way. "Show yourself!" she ordered, hoping the stranger didn't catch the fear in her voice.

A tall figure stepped out of the darkness, arms raised in a casual manner. "Put that toy away, lass. You might hurt someone," a deep, accented voice told her.

Her shoulders sagged and she lowered her gun. "Hook? Is that you?" she called out.

"Aye, it is," he said, stepping into the light so that she could see him smirking. He walked forward until he was directly in front of her and leaned casually across the shop window.

"What's got you so uptight, princess?" he asked, curious.

"Nothing, it's just-"Emma sighed, looking at the ground. "My car broke down," she admitted, as though that explained everything.

Killian shook his head and suddenly he was right besides her. "It's alright, love," he whispered in her ear. "Thankfully, you've got me to protect you."

He wrapped his arms around her waist, effectively trapping her, and smiled down at her. Her heart went on overdrive and euphoria spread throughout her body seeing his genuine smile- and all for her.

He leaned down and kissed her and all thought was banished from her mind as the feel of his lips invaded every corner of her being. Her hands were in his hair and she was pulling him closer, but then he was pulling back and she couldn't-

"Stay with me," he whispered against her lips. "Emma, stay with me."

She nodded her consent, confused as to why he even had to ask, and the next thing she knew she was on his ship and the sun was shining.

She was wearing a white dress that flowed against the wind as she stood atop the deck, gazing at the water. She raised a hand and felt a crown of flowers on her head. Strong arms wrapped around her waist from behind, his hook resting on her abdomen, and she smiled and leaned into him.

He smelt of the ocean and leather and she inhaled it all in, closing her eyes.

He kissed her cheek and rested his chin on her shoulder as his gaze traveled to where hers had been moments before.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he murmured against her ear.

She let out a noise of consent and opened her eyes to look at the ocean around them.

"I never would have thought water, of all things, could be this stunning," she said with a laugh.

"Thank you for bringing me out here," she said softly, turning her head to look at him.

He kissed her, before gesturing around them.

"Love, you haven't even seen the best part!" She heard excitement in his voice and she knew it was almost near.

Then-

She saw it before he pointed it out. Even from afar, it was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. It was daytime, but the island shone so brightly, it made everything around it seem shrouded in darkness.

"Second star to the right, and onward till morning," she whispered the first thing that popped into her head, in awe of the legend that they were nearing.

Killian laughed softly, looking at her instead of the magic in front of them. He was taking in her reaction as though he were drinking it and it was that that made her turn in his arms and kiss him.

"I've wanted to see Neverland ever since I was little girl and watched Peter Pan," she told him, their foreheads touching. She smiled widely and he grinned in response. "I can't thank you enough for showing me."

He kissed her in response and her arms went around his neck, bringing him closer.

He pulled back, and she looked at him confused, before he nodded to something behind her. She turned, curious, and stared in awe. They had just reached land and whatever she saw from afar was nothing compared to seeing it up close.

There were no words to describe the sight before her. It was a thousand times better than her imagination. They were staring at sand as far as she could see, but it had to be the most gorgeous beach she had ever laid eyes on. There were tiny lights everywhere she looked, on the ship, on her dress, in her hair. She reached up and plucked one off and brought it to Killian's vision questioningly.

"A star," he told her, and she nodded. She knew that.

"Come," he said then, holding out a hand. She took it without question as he led her across the deck.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she followed him.

He threw a smile at her across his shoulder and said with a grin, "We're going to see Neverland!"

She laughed at the glee in his voice and the bounce in his step. She had rarely seen him this excited and she was finding it to be pretty…adorable.

They reached the bottom and the moment they stepped of the ship and onto land, the scene changed before her eyes.

Killian was still holding her hand, but the stars and beauty had disappeared in front of her eyes. Looking around, she recognized the little shops and people.

They were no longer in Neverland. She was no longer wearing the white dress.

Storybrooke, Maine, loomed ahead as Killian dragged her along.

"Wait a second!" she yelled, pulling his hand back. He stopped, but didn't turn around. "Where are we going?"

He turned around so suddenly, she would have screamed had it not been for the desperate look in his eyes. "Princess, look at me," he said urgently. She stared at him. "Love, Emma, you need to come back."

She rolled her eyes and lifted her hands so that they were in full view of both their visions. "I'm right here, Hook," she said, looking at him as if he were crazy. "What's gotten into you?"

"Emma, remember the first time we met?" he asked, his voice gentle. Emma nodded.

"Back when you were 'only just a blacksmith'," she put on a high-pitched voice, mocking the way he had said it. He winced and glared at her.

"I don't sound like that," he retorted. She only smirked in response. "Back to what I was saying." He glared at her when she opened her mouth to say something. "Just shut up and listen."

She closed her mouth obediently and his blue eyes burned as he looked at her.

"You were stubborn, brave, determined, intelligent," he reached out to brush a lock of her hair out of her face. "Beautiful. " His eyes lingered on her face for a long time and she wondered if she was allowed to talk yet. But before she could say anything, he continued.

"You chose to climb up that beanstalk with me, no matter how foolhardy the decision was; I wasn't joking when I told you I'd hoped it was you. You were the one that stuck out the most. You were the one that caught my attention. You bested me. And for whatever reason, that made me want to know you better."

They were sitting on a bench now and he was holding her hands in both of his, but he wasn't looking at her.

"You're broken too, aren't you, lass? You figured out about Milah just by looking at a tattoo; that's why you left me chained up with the giant, didn't you? You've known men like me before, I suppose. Liars and thieves; You just couldn't take that chance. The chance that you were wrong about me." He looked at her and she felt her heart constrict at the sight of utter despair in his eyes. He felt for her. He squeezed her hand before continuing.

"You know, I waited for you. I waited for you to turn back, to realize you'd made a mistake. I had thought we'd had an understanding, and I couldn't believe you had betrayed me. But for what it's worth, love, I meant what I said at the Dark One's cell- I would have never double-crossed you." He was no longer holding her hands and she got up to walk around the bench. He continued without glancing back at her.

"You didn't come back, of course, and I had to climb down the beanstalk to the most unwanted sight- Cora. She told me I couldn't come to Storybrooke with her because I chose you," here he gave a little laugh, "And I'll be damned, but at that moment, staring at Cora, I realized that I'd chose you again and again, a thousand times over. "

Emma's fingers ghosted over the flowers nearby as she let his words wash over her. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent. Roses. Her favorite.

"I took Aurora's heart partly because I needed a way to please the evil witch and partly because I was still angry at you- at your betrayal. She told you through Aurora that I might have feelings for you. Apparently, the old hag was much more perceptive than what I gave her credit for."

A butterfly landed on her finger and she laughed as it fluttered its wings before flying away. They were in a garden and all around her, she could see flowers and plants of every color. It was beautiful. She smiled and twirled, as his words shook within her soul.

"The next time I saw you, you were behind bars in the Crocodile's cell. You were trapped, just as I had wanted, but I couldn't find it in me to feel happy. There was no joy in getting back at you. I couldn't bear to look at you the entire time you were pleading with Cora, knowing that the moment I'd glance at you, I'd be unable to deny you anything. You seem to have that power on people, don't you?" he laughed again, but it was plagued with sadness. "And you don't even realize it…" his voice broke as he trailed off, but he just shook his head before continuing.

A cool breeze swept through, flower petals flying around her and she stopped, looking at him sitting on the bench, gaze directed to the ground somewhere. For whatever reason, he needed to get this off his chest and she wanted nothing more than to listen.

"The moment you called me back, I came. Like I said, I knew the moment I saw you again that I'd be unable to refuse you anything. I came back, but I was still hurt. You have to understand, Emma. You had been my ticket to Storybrooke, to the revenge I had spent 300 years perfecting, and you had betrayed me in a heartbeat. I am a cruel man, love. I don't take well to betrayals. Men who betray me don't live long enough to see the light of day. But you, my love. You were- are- different. You told me you needed to get back to your son and I knew you'd stop at nothing."

A sudden need to be close to him made her walk up to the back of the bench and lean down. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him softly below the ear. He closed his eyes at her touch leaned into her touch but didn't deter from his words.

"It was then I vowed that if I could find a way to bring you home, I would. If I didn't, then that was your punishment for betraying me. It seemed a fair deal in my mind. I showed you the bean to remind you of what could have been had you not gone through with your deception. I told you on the beanstalk, lass, that you were an open book. I knew, even then, how to push all your buttons. You were already hopeless, what better way to let out some of my anger than to rub it in your face? You were angry and you were betrayed and I was content."

Here she sat down by him again, leaning against him and closing her eyes.

"The moment I realized Cora needed the powers of Lake Nostos to use the ashes, I realized I didn't need the compass. The waters would revive the bean and we'd be able to make it to Storybrooke without the aid of the trinket. When you and your party of four showed up, I realized I could let you have the compass. We fought, or truthfully, you fought and I pretended to give my all."

At this she opened her mouth in indignation, but he waved her off, smirking, "You didn't think you'd actually won because of skill, did you?" She glared at him and opened her mouth to retort but he cut her off again.

"Oh, come off it, love. It was painfully obvious you'd had absolutely no experience with the sword and I am a pirate, Emma. I've had my fair share of swordfights in my time. If I had wanted to win, I would have won. As it were, I had decided to let you off easy. I stalled, enjoying our back and forth, because watching you give it your all, fighting so desperately for your son, it was entertaining and it just made me want you that much more. Your determination has always been admirable, Emma. But not always welcome. The punch I was not expecting, you have a mean right hook by the way, but by the time I came to, you were gone. I could only hope you had made it through the portal because Cora was still there and the compass was nowhere to be seen. So I used the bean to come to this land, where I knew I'd find you."

Emma knew the rest of the story and she opened her mouth to quickly get a word in before he continued. "Are you done now?" she asked, impatient.

He looked at her, confused, almost as if he'd forgotten she was with him. He shook his head. "Not really, but I have a feeling you don't want to hear the rest." He sounded dejected. That just wouldn't do. But apparently he had one more thing to say.

"I love you," he said unexpectedly. "I love you so much, Emma. I never thought I'd feel again…after Milah…but then you came along. You changed me. My soul was shrouded in darkness for so long, but then you came and all of that changed. I- I don't know what'll happen if you leave. Emma, with you gone, there's no telling what will happen. Milah died and I spent nearly three centuries attempting to avenge her. But you, my love, I'll spend the rest of eternity looking for because," he paused and he looked at her, his blue eyes shining, "because my soul will never rest until it's united with you."

The confession was doing strange things to Emma. On one hand, she wanted to hold him close and never let him go and on the other-

Emma jumped on him. That's really the only way she could describe it. One moment she was sitting on the bench next to him and the next, she was straddling him and crushing her mouth to his and telling him over and over how much she loved him too and he was moaning her name saying it like a prayer and she was having trouble thinking because he was everywhere and she was pulling him closer but it wasn't enough it was never enough and suddenly she felt him push her back, the bench warm beneath her and he was on top of her and his hook was tearing at her blouse and

His mouth was ripped away from hers and Emma blinked at the sudden loss of warmth.

She was lying down on a couch in her living room, in the apartment she shared with Mary Margaret, and there was David standing there in front of her, arms crossed. She sat up slowly, her head pounding. She looked around. Killian Jones was nowhere in sight and her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, holding a mug of coffee.

"David?" she said, blearily. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. "What happened?"

"You tell us," he said, eyes narrowing. "Where were you last night?"

Wait- what?

"Last night?" Emma scrunched up her face in thought, thinking back to the last thing she could remember. "I was.." nothing came to mind.

"I was at the station, finishing up some paperwork," she said confidently. There was a pretty big chance that was actually true.

Judging by the look her father was giving her, though, Emma knew she had said the wrong thing.

"Station? Paperwork?" David echoed. "What in the world are you going on about?" he asked, completely lost.

"David," Mary Margaret said in a warning tone. David glanced at her as she sent him a glare and he nodded before turning back to Emma.

"I work at the station, don't I?" Emma asked, slowly. She was getting a bad feeling.

"Station? What station, Emma? You were supposed to be at Alexandra's doing a school project last night!" David told her sternly and she could detect anger beneath his words.

_Oh. God. Who the fuck was Alexandra? And school project? What was she, 12?_

"That's what I meant," Emma said nonchalantly( as if she had meant that all along) and swung her legs off the couch and moved to stand. "I suppose I was too tired to make it to my room when I came back and decided to crash on the couch."

"Emma, August brought you here at three in the morning and you were completely trashed."

It was Mary Margaret that said this, while David stood in front of her, gauging her reaction.

"Three in the morning? Trashed?" she asked, appalled. Then the entirety of the statement caught up to her. "_August?_ He's here?"

David looked at her strangely. "Of course he's here, Emma. Where would he go?"

Emma shook her head. "But he left after the curse was broken…we never found out where he went," she said lightly.

Now both her parents were looking at her in concern. Then they both spoke at the same time.

"What curse?"

"Honey, come here."

Emma looked at the confusion on both her parents face and slowly made her way to the kitchen table and sat across from her mother. Mary Margaret immediately got up to pour her a cup of coffee. Emma glanced at the clock. 9 a.m.

Great.

David pulled up a chair as well and she could see that remains of his breakfast that he had yet to finish.

Mary Margaret passed her a plate of toast and a cup of steaming hot liquid and Emma drank it gratefully, savoring the way it relieved her of her pounding headache.

"Alright, Emma, what's with the curse and all?" David asked her. Mary Margaret reached out to lay a hand on his arm and sent him a silent warning.

Emma noticed something then. Or more like the _lack_ of somebody.

"Where's Henry?" she asked, turning in her seat.

"Who?"

Both her parents stared at her blankly.

Emma chewed on a piece of toast slowly, looking between her parents. "You know, Henry. My son."

David jumped up off his seat. "YOU HAVE A SON?" he roared.

Mary Margaret pulled him down, glaring at him. "She doesn't have a son, you idiot!" she scolded him.

David took a deep breath and seemed to realize his mistake and once more looked at Emma.

"Alright, Emma, enough of this nonsense. What curse were you talking about?"

"You know, the curse that made you two forget who you were," she said, pausing when they both looked at each other. "Made this entire town forget their fairytale lives," she gestured around her before continuing. "That's why you guys look like you're my age. You stopped aging when the curse hit." But even as she said that, Emma could see that she was wrong. Both Mary Margaret and David did indeed look like her parents, but they were subtle differences that there was no way she could have noticed in her knackered state before. There were laugh lines around her father's eyes and the skin around Mary Margaret's face was pulled tauter than she remembered. They both looked at least 15 years older than when she had last seen them.

_Oh. My. God. _

Emma buried her face in her hands and only when she felt warmth on her arm did she peek through her fingers.

"You guys think I'm crazy, don't you?" she asked, her voice muffled through her fingers.

"Oh, honey, of course not," her father said to her. It was the strangest sight, to see and hear that tone of voice come from David.

Emma finally peeled away her hands from her face and looked at both her parents, suddenly feeling sheepish.

"But we still want to know where you were last night, young lady," her mother said to her sternly.

Emma looked down at her hands and tried to think as hard as she could. Nothing came up. She had no idea what had happened.

"I have no idea," she said truthfully. "I honestly can't remember a thing. Not even going to Alexandra's house."

Her mother was starting to look scared and so Emma quickly said, "Have you tried calling Alexandra and asking her?"

Her father nodded, but it was her mother who replied. "Yes, that was the first place we called. She said you were at her place, working on your project until about 10 when you left to go home."

Emma's head dropped and immediately her thoughts went on overdrive.

_Omg, someone must have kidnapped me. No, I was drugged. No worse, they implanted a chip in my brain and now I'm a spy._

_Wait what?_

She was about to hyperventilate when another idea popped into her head. Dear lord, she was on fire today.

"Wait, have you called August and asked him? You said he was the one who brought me home," she said, quite proud of her suggestion.

David gave her a look.

"Look, young lady, I don't know what you're playing at but it's not working," he said strictly.

She opened her mouth to argue, but he silenced her with a hand.

"I want you to go up to your room and think about last night very hard and when we come upstairs, you'd better have a good explanation for your behavior or else by the time your punishment is over, you're going to have to come down those stairs in a wheelchair," he said, quietly, but she could tell he was angry.

Emma openly gawked at the unfairness of the situation. She honestly couldn't remember and they were going to ground her for it?

Emma pushed her chair back with much more force than necessary but she felt so angry at the clear injustice being bluntly displayed in front of her.

"You guys are ruining my life!" she yelled. "You don't understand! I don't remember and you want to ground me for it? So now I'm being punished because some random guy drugged me and made me his spy? How is that fair?! You guys are determined to ruin everything, aren't you?

And with that, she stomped up the stairs, slamming her door shut.

Emma looked in the mirror and felt her anger swell. She was seventeen years old and her parents couldn't even trust her on anything! Life was so unfair!

She lay back on her bed, closing her eyes. She tried to remember as hard as she could about anything last night, but try as she might, nothing came to her. All she remembered was showing up at Alexandra's door and then boom! Nothing afterwards.

She should call Alexandra to see if she did indeed not know anything that happened last night. Maybe she had kept something from her parents. Emma looked at the clock. It was only 9:15. It was a Saturday and Alexandra wouldn't be up until at least around one in the afternoon. Calling her and waking her up any earlier made the _princess_ cranky and an absolute bitch to be around. She wouldn't get any answers out of her at this time.

Seeing as how Emma couldn't remember a thing, she thought it futile to sit around and pretend to have memories she had no recollection of so she decided to go on her computer. Maybe check her email, her facebook, click on cute cat pictures- before her parents took away everything because they'd just have to ground her for the rest of her life. There was no way she was remembering.

Nearly an hour had passed when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called out.

Her dad opened the door and stepped into the room, looking around it fondly.

Her bedroom wasn't much too look at. In her opinion, her parent's chamber was so much more interesting.

"Emma, darling, are you alright?" her father asked her, concern evident in his voice. "The maids said you refuse to come down to dinner. What's wrong?"

Emma sighed and turned away from the window.

"Nothing, Papa, it's just…" she had a wistful look in her eyes and the confusion on her father's face grew.

"Emma?"

Emma shook her head, coming out of her reverie. "Nothing, Papa," she said with a smile. "Come, let's go."

Prince Charming, or as he was better known now, King James, led his daughter out of her chamber and down to the dining hall. She had been acting strangely but she seemed well enough now.

Emma pushed her food around, not really eating and staring off into the distance. Her parents' glanced at one another before realization crossed Snow's face. She whispered something in her husband's ear and James' eyes widened. He glanced at Emma, then back at Snow and she nodded at him, smiling.

Snow cleared her throat pointedly. Emma jumped a little bit, before looking at both her parents guiltily. She immediately shoved a forkful of meat in her mouth, attempting to show them that she had been eating.

Her mother shook her head at her antics and reached across her seat to lay a hand on her daughter's arm. The Queen gave her a knowing smile that sent Emma's stomach in knots.

"Who is he?" she asked gently. James just looked back and forth between the two.

"Who?" Emma asked, heart lurching.

"The man you're in love with," came the response, her mother smiling at her.

Emma felt her cheeks heat up but she smiled nonetheless, thinking of a certain man who had taken up her every thought.

"He's no one," she said, shaking her head. There was no way her parents would ever approve of him and she couldn't blame them. She herself could barely stand the sight of him, despite the fact he had taken up residence in every part of her brain. They could never be together; it was simply unheard of. No need to bother her parents with a simple and insane infatuation.

James looked at her, clearly about to say something, but Snow stopped him with a glance. She'll tell us when she's ready, she told him silently.

"True love's kiss can cure any curse," Snow told her. Emma looked at her mother, clearly thinking she was off her rocker.

"Um, right. Thanks for letting me know…?" Emma let the question hang because she had no idea where that had come from.

James suddenly stood up, startling both his wife and daughter. "Right, let's go have lunch in the garden," he suggested-more commanded, really- and at Emma's questioning glance, he explained further. "It's such a nice day outside, not a cloud in sight, and here we are not enjoying any of it. Besides, you two absolutely love the garden so let's eat there today."

Mother and daughter looked at each other and shrugged, getting up.

"Ok, then, Father," Emma said. "Lead the way."

* * *

A/N: If some parts were confusing, it is intentional, and all will be explained in the next chapter :) Thanks for reading!


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